Actually, System Shock offered the lean years before Thief. I believe the Ultima Underworld games did as well, and those were Looking Glass properties too.
I've always loved game music, even back when it was the NES days and the songs weren't really complex - but I still loved them.
Especially nowadays, it's great to be a game music fan...there's so many great composers out there (Uematsu, Mitsuda, Sakuraba, etc) that it's hard to go wrong.
The best music seems to come from RPGs...mainly because the composers need to create epic themes to go along with the (generally) epic stories. Uematsu (composer of the Final Fantasy games) is usually the best known, and while his actual compositions are hardly matched, he's been using samples in his recent games (Final Fantasies VII and VIII) that don't really showcase the sound quality of the Playstation. If you have any interest in this sort of music, I HIGHLY recommend you pop over to GameMusic Online (http://www.gamemusic.com/) and check out some of their soundtracks - two of the best scores on the market are the Xenogears OSV and the Genso Suikoden soundtrack (the latter is one of the best overall soundtracks I've ever heard, for anything).
Then there's some of the other stuff...Falcom is highly regarded for its music, and some of their orchestrated albums are simply mind-blowing.
I highly recommend that you guys check out some of the music available - it's simply incredible what's being produced nowadays.
Sure, their ads may be rather annoying, but I've got no complaints - both my father and I have placed several orders from Outpost.com, and we're immensely satisfied. I mean, we ordered gifts on the 23rd and they arrived here yesterday morning!
There already are, much as we don't want to think about it.
When was the last time you were able to...say, yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre? What about making an assassination threat on the president?
The question is not whether or not there are limits, because there will be under this system. The question is whether or not Bush is extending the limits unnecessarily.
I'm as angry as the next/.er to see a leading presidental candidate advocate limiting satirical speech, even though the issue is fuzzy. We just need to keep in mind that this isn't anything new.
The way I see it, while D&D has the most name recognition of the various P&P RPGs, it's going to be very difficult to get right - especially if there's such a great emphasis on being accurate down to the rolls, which is what seems to be implied. Fantasy is difficult to do without appearing very cheesy, which will likely work against it.
Personally, I'd much rather like to see a good Shadowrun movie, and I think that if a D&D and Shadowrun movie were both made and of equal quality, the SR movie would fare better at the box-office - just because there's more of a market for futuristic, sci-fi type movies.
I mean, who wouldn't want to see a team of Runners head into Chicago, or raid some corp's headquarters? And there's just more of that "Whoa, that was cool!" factor, IMO - I'd love to see a well-done monofilament whip action sequence.
But that's just my opinion. I'm sure the D&D movie will make decent money from the geek segment, but probably not do well enough at the box office to change pre-concieved notions or start a new Hollywood trend.
Pokemon is, unless I'm really out of the loop, a trading card game.
The "lottery" explanation that all the discussion seems to be centered around is missing this fundamental point.
Nintendo isn't making certain cards "rare" to pump up the market value - at least, that's not the ONLY reason, which is what the suit is implying.
Why are there rare cards? Because they are more powerful within the context of the game. If all cards would be equally common, they would have to be equally powerful, and that would make a hell of a boring game.
Yes, there is a desire to get "rare" cards. Part of it IS to impress people - but they have a legitimate use within the context of the game.
The "lottery theory" implies that Pokemon's only purpose is for money. That's not true - it's an actual game that is capitalizing on legitimate cultural trends. As with other CCGs, though, there is a sub-market for rare cards. That shouldn't be the main focus, which it has seemed to become.
...this only affects RIO players. It doesn't kill off MP3, or anything like that.
Anyone who wants portable MP3 can still take their MP3s and burn them onto CDs or whatnot.
In the long run, it's not going to make much of a difference. Especially with the variety of MP3 solutions out there - Diamond isn't the only game in town.
I downloaded the MP3s while I was working today, and it certainly provided a change of pace from the boring stuff in front of me. It did brighten my day, kinda, to hear people having fun - and that's the important stuff.
And rest assured, you're not driving your audience away - well, not all of it.
Slashdot Mirror
If that hadn't actually been a focus of the article, I would have posted the rest of the code myself...
He last directed The Apt Pupil.
I can't say I expected otherwise, but would it really be that hard to spend 30 seconds to check your facts with the IMDB, Katz?
If it's so bad, why in the world did you see it twice?
Actually, System Shock offered the lean years before Thief. I believe the Ultima Underworld games did as well, and those were Looking Glass properties too.
I've always loved game music, even back when it was the NES days and the songs weren't really complex - but I still loved them.
Especially nowadays, it's great to be a game music fan...there's so many great composers out there (Uematsu, Mitsuda, Sakuraba, etc) that it's hard to go wrong.
The best music seems to come from RPGs...mainly because the composers need to create epic themes to go along with the (generally) epic stories. Uematsu (composer of the Final Fantasy games) is usually the best known, and while his actual compositions are hardly matched, he's been using samples in his recent games (Final Fantasies VII and VIII) that don't really showcase the sound quality of the Playstation. If you have any interest in this sort of music, I HIGHLY recommend you pop over to GameMusic Online (http://www.gamemusic.com/) and check out some of their soundtracks - two of the best scores on the market are the Xenogears OSV and the Genso Suikoden soundtrack (the latter is one of the best overall soundtracks I've ever heard, for anything).
Then there's some of the other stuff...Falcom is highly regarded for its music, and some of their orchestrated albums are simply mind-blowing.
I highly recommend that you guys check out some of the music available - it's simply incredible what's being produced nowadays.
Sure, their ads may be rather annoying, but I've got no complaints - both my father and I have placed several orders from Outpost.com, and we're immensely satisfied. I mean, we ordered gifts on the 23rd and they arrived here yesterday morning!
I guess it's just where you order from.
There already are, much as we don't want to think about it.
When was the last time you were able to...say, yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre? What about making an assassination threat on the president?
The question is not whether or not there are limits, because there will be under this system. The question is whether or not Bush is extending the limits unnecessarily.
I'm as angry as the next /.er to see a leading presidental candidate advocate limiting satirical speech, even though the issue is fuzzy. We just need to keep in mind that this isn't anything new.
And to think I'm from the Internet C@pital and currently living in the .commonwealth.
Can I win some sort of prize for being more "wired"?
The same point can be made of the MPAA, and look where that's gotten to.
Personally, I'd much rather like to see a good Shadowrun movie, and I think that if a D&D and Shadowrun movie were both made and of equal quality, the SR movie would fare better at the box-office - just because there's more of a market for futuristic, sci-fi type movies.
I mean, who wouldn't want to see a team of Runners head into Chicago, or raid some corp's headquarters? And there's just more of that "Whoa, that was cool!" factor, IMO - I'd love to see a well-done monofilament whip action sequence.
But that's just my opinion. I'm sure the D&D movie will make decent money from the geek segment, but probably not do well enough at the box office to change pre-concieved notions or start a new Hollywood trend.
The "lottery" explanation that all the discussion seems to be centered around is missing this fundamental point.
Nintendo isn't making certain cards "rare" to pump up the market value - at least, that's not the ONLY reason, which is what the suit is implying.
Why are there rare cards? Because they are more powerful within the context of the game. If all cards would be equally common, they would have to be equally powerful, and that would make a hell of a boring game.
Yes, there is a desire to get "rare" cards. Part of it IS to impress people - but they have a legitimate use within the context of the game.
The "lottery theory" implies that Pokemon's only purpose is for money. That's not true - it's an actual game that is capitalizing on legitimate cultural trends. As with other CCGs, though, there is a sub-market for rare cards. That shouldn't be the main focus, which it has seemed to become.
Tufts University is Pepsi-only in the cafeterias, but there aren't any Pepsi vending machines around - that I've seen, anyway. Good balance.
...is that it's considered newsworthy to have this viewpoint expressed in the media.
Or better yet, buy it from stores. Oh, wait, then it's not free. :)
Not to be rude, but isn't this kind of off topic? Roblimo tossed that up there to be humorous...
The film cost about $50,000 to make.
The marketing was handled by Artisan, the distributor, and has no bearing on the cost of the creation of the film.
The availability of cheap digital filming solutions won't necessarily translate into quality.
If you want proof of this, go check out the free music at MP3.com. It's available, and most of it is crap.
Sure, there's potential for creativity, but there's a good and a bad side to this.
According to Corona's Coming Attractions (http://corona.bc.ca/films/mainFramed.html - terrific site), Dogma is scheduled for a mid-October release.
I can't wait for it, anyway. Should be a great film.
...this only affects RIO players. It doesn't kill off MP3, or anything like that.
Anyone who wants portable MP3 can still take their MP3s and burn them onto CDs or whatnot.
In the long run, it's not going to make much of a difference. Especially with the variety of MP3 solutions out there - Diamond isn't the only game in town.
Of course, the point should be made that while the Hays code was bad, those were accepted societal standards in 1930.
I would assume that if a similar law were to be enacted nowadays, it would be at least somewhat more tolerant of sexual content, et al.
Not that I condone or would want such a law, of course.
I downloaded the MP3s while I was working today, and it certainly provided a change of pace from the boring stuff in front of me. It did brighten my day, kinda, to hear people having fun - and that's the important stuff.
And rest assured, you're not driving your audience away - well, not all of it.